julezzz26

could you stay prn at the er job? that way you could stay in their system and pick up a shift here and there if you wanted.

if a pt is npo and wants to chew gum is it ok? thanks.

I am so glad for you! I am a new grad and have been working on ortho/trauma/med surg floor for the last 3 months and I can't tell you how much I have learned. It really teaches you to multitask and my time management is getting better every week. I still have trouble with time management on some days but I am trying to live and learn from each shift and improve. I wanted to go to the ED right out of nursing school but my hospital said you had to have at least 1 year of med-surg type experience. I was pretty bummed at first but I can see why now. Good luck to you, I hope you have a great experience on your new floor!

ditto! i could not have said it better!

Do the externship - you will gain so much experience from it. You can always review your anatomy book on your days off, just review one system at a time. Congrats on the externship, it sounds great!

You can verify licenses online in Colorado. I found out I passed the boards by checking to see if my license had been issued online on the state board of nursing website here in Colorado. They issued my license before I got my test results in the mail!

Are filter needles and blunt needles the same thing? Thanks in advance :)

Quick questions about conscious sedation: 1. Does it matter which medication you give first, fentanyl or versed or do you mix them and give together? 2. How much time do you have to wait in between administering them if they are not mixed? 3. Does the patient have to be on a cardiac monitor? Thanks in advance :)

You took the words right out of my mouth! That is EXACTLY how I feel after almost 2 months on my floor. I am going to be on my own starting next week and I am really nervous....my preceptor is great and says to just hang in there on those bad days, you learn more than you think from those experiences.:nurse

I'm sorry you are having a hard time. Have you thought about other specialties that might interest you? The hospital I work at has a program where you can transfer to a speciality with a mentor......maybe your HR department would know? Good luck and hang in there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am 3 weeks into a new grad position as an RN on an ortho/trauma floor on the day shift. I have 2 great preceptors. I am having a hard time keeping up with things, I am getting distracted and not getting my meds done on time. Any suggestions on how to stay organized? How do you guys organize your day? Thanks.

I just started as a new grad RN in home health, have been doing it for a couple weeks. I have 2 years of experience as an LPN in family practice and urgent care. I am going to quit as soon as I find a hospital job on Med Surg. It is very overwhelming. I feel very unsure of myself. My friend is the sales rep for this company and painted a really pretty picture of what it is like. Like a complete idiot I felt for it hook line and sinker. You go to the patient's house and get paid for that but then you still have to chart which is very hard to get done in that same hour especially if you have back to back patients. You have to call all the patients the night before to get your schedule set for the next day which you are not getting paid for either. I have only one patient this week which is a very easy dressing change so I am OK with that. It is very scary to be out there on my own and I would not recommend it to any LPN or RN new grad. Hope this helps.

It is awful having to wait for the results - I was totally freaked out waiting for mine. I found the best thing is to just try not to think about it. I tried to distract myself, I cleaned my house from top to bottom which helped. Hang in there, I'm sure you passed.

Thanks Tazzi, I feel better. I will definetly take your advice.

It sounds like you are very genuine and speaking from the heart. Make eye contact with the board when you are speaking and try imagining them in their underwear to help calm you down. You can do it, good luck tomorrow!